Tragedy and Triumph
by CharrBrent
Summary: Quaritch was on the verge of killing Jake in his link shack. Neytiri came just in time to save him. However, in the end, Quaritch won't be the only one who would perish. Updated to reflect the extended fight scene.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Avatar. All the wonderful characters belong to James Cameron.

**Author's note:** I tried to keep the characters as true to their personalities as possible. I know this is sad, but the ending should bring some closure to this tragedy and triumph. :)

* * *

Colonel Miles Quaritch grinned maniacally as he leveled his GAU-90 30 mm automatic rifle and aimed at the mobile link station that Jake was surely inside of.

_It's over Sully, it's over._

His peripheral vision caught a movement. He glanced at the rearview mirror of his AMP suit, and his face instantly contorted in surprise: a Na'vi mounted on a thanator was rapidly closing on him, attempting to strike his back unnoticed. Quaritch's combat instincts kicked in. Dropping the GAU-90, he whirled around and raised his AMP suit's mechanical arms just in time to redirect the charging beast's path over him. He quickly turned around to see the rider, a young female, wheeling the thanator around for a second charge. Again, he braced himself and redirected the charging animal right over his shoulder. The momentum of the move sent him crashing forward.

The rider and his mount were momentarily disoriented. Pushing himself upright, he frantically raised his GAU-90 and began unloading rounds at the thanator and the rider. The telepathically controlled thanator, unfazed and fearless under its rider's control, ignored the projectiles and pounced towards him; the force of the lunge knocked his suit on its back against a jagged boulder and cracked his glass canopy. Using this opportunity, the canny Na'vi quickly commanded her thanator to attack Quaritch's GAU-90. _Thunk! _The first impact knocked off the ammunition belt. Another few smashes and the weapon broke in half. The colonel was thrashed violently in the cockpit, disorienting him. _Fuck this savage!_

Quaritch shifted under the animal and swung his left first, landing a heavy punch to thanator's head. Trying to stop the animal's attacks, he reached to grab the rider off of the animal, but she ducked in time. _This blue monkey knows her stuff. _The Na'vi turned the massive beast towards the suit, lunging at the machine again. Quaritch quickly grappled the fearsome head, narrowly dodging the enormous snapping jaws. He came face-to-face to the rider, a terrifying looking warrior. She glared at the colonel and hissed in fury. Mustering all of his strength, Quaritch braced forward and thrust the animal back. The Na'vi quickly ordered her beast to pounce forward again. The colonel predicted this and shifted to one side, using his arms to throw the thanator against a tree trunk. Using the brief opportunity, he drew his AMP utility knife, with a ceramic blade over 3 feet long. He turned towards his adversary. The rider glared as the thanator growled. Quaritch was confident.

"Come on, come to papa!"

With unerring determination, the rider commanded the thanator to charge forward. Quaritch was ready. Leaning forward, he blocked the charging thanator with his left arm, lifting it over his head, exposing its underside. He viciously plunged his blade into the animal between its armored plates. _Gotcha! _The thanator shrieked with each stab; the rider, telepathically connected to it, felt its pain. After numerous stabs, Quaritch threw animal away with its rider still mounted. Not giving his adversary any respite, he jumped and used the large mass of his AMP suit to sink the blade deep into the animal's jugular. The huge black beast growled for a last time before giving out, pinning the rider's right leg under its body, immobilizing her. Panting, he now had full view of the rider, a beautiful young female warrior. His cold eyes scanned her physique: her pretty face, strong shoulders, elegant curves and proportions, nubile breasts, toned abdomen. None of this mattered to him; killing was just a normal job, a cold business that only the strongest could survive in. The death of an enemy would always be rewarding, especially if it was personal. Quaritch's cold eyes were locked on the target before him.

_It's over._

* * *

Neytiri looked at Quaritch, and struggled frantically to free her leg under the _palulukan's_ enormous bulk. As she squirmed, she saw the man with a scarred face pull the large knife out of the animal's neck, pointing the tip directly at her. _It's over._

In fury, Neytiri hissed defiantly. Staring with ice-cold eyes, Quaritch aimed his knife at her slender body, ready to finish her off with a final stab. Neytiri made one final prayer to Eywa. She reached for her microphone to send one last transmission to Jake.

* * *

Quaritch savored his victorious moment as he plunged the massive blade into the indigenous being's abdomen. Her bellow of pain filled his heart with cold joy. Each of her subsequent pain-filled gasp was music to his ears. Quaritch pulled the knife out triumphantly and looked at the Na'vi before him. Her intestines gushed out; she clutched the gash in her belly, groaning in agony. The colonel smiled at the futile struggle of his victim, a primitive savage unworthy of treatment as a sentient being.

* * *

Neytiri's vision momentarily faded as she felt the searing pain. She wished that the scarred man could just slit her throat or stab the heart in her chest and let her die quickly. The agony was unbearable. Gasping, she closed her eyes, trying to ignore the pain; instead, she thought about Jake, and about the plight of her people. She knew that the Na'vi forces took heavy casualties in both the air and on the ground. She wished that Eywa's intervention was enough to spare her people from death. She wished that Jake was alive and well, and that if he survived, he would lead a good life, and maybe even become _olo'eyktan_.

As if Eywa had prompted her, she turned her head and saw Jake emerge from the forest. She could see his horrified face. _Jake!_

She ignored her agony and cleared her mind, and felt a pang of guilt for her mate. She could see his trauma. _Jake Sully, don't worry about me. I'm sorry Jake, I'm sorry._ Tears formed in Neytiri's eyes as she realized what she had done to herself and to Jake. She was the reason Jake fought for her people. She was everything for him. However, she comforted herself knowing that the Sky People were losing. She saw the stampede of _nantang_ and _'angtsìk_ decimating the enemy's ground forces. Her fate, her death, was a necessary sacrifice for Eywa's balance of life. _Thank you Eywa, for my People._

Mercifully, unconsciousness engulfed her, and her vision turned black.

* * *

Jake burst through the thick jungle growth. He could hear the sound of hydraulic actuators, the howl of a thanator, and, most importantly, the shout of a familiar voice. _Neytiri!_ Fear raced through his mind as he ran frantically through the woods.

Jake came to the scene just in time to hear his mate's painful scream. He saw how small and vulnerable she was compared to the mechanical beast. He saw the knife embedded deep in Neytiri's abdomen. Sound was stuck in his throat. _NO! _He was horrified as he heard her gasping. Jake's horror increased as Quaritch yanked the gory blade out of her stomach. She writhed in horrendous agony. He looked at Neytiri's face as she turned her head towards him. Jake felt her eyes looking right into his soul. He saw and felt a plethora of emotions in her: desperation, sadness and guilt. Then, did her countenance suddenly become calm? _How could she endure such pain? _However, his mind was unable to fathom with the question. Neytiri closed her eyes. Jake had lost it.

"Quaritch you fucking asshole!"

It was as if someone turned a switch inside him. Jake suddenly felt dull and thick. The Pandora jungle became a blur as his rage obfuscated everything except for the person he hated the most. Without any regards for his own safety, he charged at Quaritch's AMP suit, determined to take him down no matter what.

_Bring him down._

* * *

Quaritch turned towards the direction of the sound. The sheer anger and hatred behind the voice stunned even the hardened colonel. Watching the crazed man charging at him, he quickly stabbed, but Jake grabbed the foregrip of his broken GAU-90, parrying the blow and catching the blade in the carrying handle. Jake savagely twisted and yanked at the hunk of metal, snapping the blade off the hilt. Surprised, Quaritch swung his arms at him, but he ducked and ran past him. Turning around, Jake was ready make a second charge. With amazing mechanical strength, Quaritch grabbed the thanator's dead body. Grunting, he twisted his suit, hip servos whining under the immense load, and heaved it at Jake. Jake made a last second dodge as the black hulk rolled to a stop against the link station. Avoiding swinging mechanical arms, he slammed the side of the canopy. It cracked, but still held fast. Jumping on a nearby log, he pointed the foregrip's bayonet towards the man in the canopy and used his falling momentum to slam the blade through the clear material.

Quaritch reached over his head to grab Jake as he jumped off of the suit. His eyes widened with shock as the bayonet tip pierced through the glass and went short of his chest by inches. Taking a deep breath, he yanked the foregrip out of the canopy as the native air rushed in and chucked it behind him. Jake ducked as the piece flew overhead and slammed against the window of the link station. The window cracked, but it held together. Unable to see through the countless cracks in the glass, Quaritch guided himself with the FLIR; he swung his arms in Jake's direction, hoping to take him down. Realizing that he needed a visual on Jake, and knowing that his breath is rapidly running out, he pressed the ejection latch on his canopy. Pneumatic cylinders pushed the canopy out as he quickly grabbed an exo-pack and donned it on his face.

He looked at the Marine-turned-native in front of him with pity and contempt. His SecOps took heavy casualties in both the air and on the ground. Almost all of his helicopter escorts went down, the Valkyrie shuttle was destroyed, his ground forces were decimated, and his Dragon gunship was obliterated. And this was caused by the corporal whom he trusted. Jake Sully was a son and a comrade, a Marine, and now he was leading the campaign to defeat humanity. Quaritch felt deeply betrayed.

Flicking a switch on his controls, Quaritch reactivated his AMP suit. The turbines spooled up, whirling to life from automatic shut down from the ejection. Jake drew the knife from his scabbard. Quaritch's voice was full of contempt. "Hey Sully. How does it feel to betray your own race?"

Jake hissed venomously, yellow eyes burning with hate.

A sly grin crept on Quaritch's face. "You think you're one of them? Well, time to wake up."

He turned towards the link shack and walked towards it. Realization sank into Jake's mind. Eyes bulging wide, Jake sprinted towards the AMP suit and jumped on top of it before it could damage the building. Using all of his enraged strength, he rammed the knife as hard as he could into his head.

Quaritch made a last second dodge, and the knife sank into his seat less an inch from his cranium. Grabbing Jake by his queue, Quaritch flung him away from link shack. He walked towards him ominously.

Jake clutched his braid, writhing in pain. He saw the metal feet approaching him and tried to back away. It was no use. Quaritch reached down and picked him up by his queue. Jake screamed in pain, the pressure on the queue was overloading his sense. He pulled at the large mechanical hand, attempting to relieve his queue from some of the weight. Quaritch looked coldly at the corporal, and then grinned as he brought him closer. Jake watched as Quaritch pulled the knife out of his seat and slowly placed it on his throat.

_Checkmate._

* * *

The darkness slowly faded. Neytiri's eyes gradually opened. The light caused her dilated pupils to rapidly shrink as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight. The intense numbing pain in her stomach was quick in awakening her. _How can__ I be alive? _A flurry of movement caught her eyes. Neytiri glanced at the metal AMP suit to 20 feet to her right. A feeling of anger and pain shot up inside her. _Why are the Sky People ravaging my world and spreading death!_

Her eyes widened as she saw the AMP suit holding a blue figure, a Na'vi. It took a split second for her to recognize the man. _Jake!_ She noticed that the canopy was gone, and the scarred man, breathing through an exo-pack, brought a knife to Jake's throat. _No!_ Neytiri cursed herself for being so useless in the situation. She couldn't bear to think about Jake dying due to her failure to protect him. Adrenaline flowed through her blood. _Please Eywa, grant me some energy; please don't let Jake perish._ She clenched her teeth in rage and reached for her knife on her belt. Neglecting her suffering, she summoned her entire concentration and strength, intent on killing the scarred man. She gripped the blade with her fingers and flung it at the scarred man.

* * *

Jake was sure that he was dead. The action around him was so real. From riding his _toruk_ to fighting Quaritch, he struggled to stay alive and accomplish his goal. Now that he has his own knife against his throat, he was sure that his life would end right there. A part of him was disgusted at his defeat in front of Quaritch, his former mentor and a fellow Marine. However, a stronger part of him was happy that he can join Neytiri and go to Eywa. He waited.

_Whump!_

Blood shot out Quaritch's head as the metal hand released its grip on the avatar's queue. Jake looked up to see the hilt of a knife protruding from the side of the colonel's head. Quaritch's haughty expression remained locked in time as his suit collapsed. He was gone before he hit the ground.

Jake's sight began blurring; his vision turned white, and he seemed to have traveled in a vortex before suddenly looking at a dark metallic surface.

Jake emerged from his link, surprised and panting, but unhurt. As his consciousness snapped from his avatar body to his human body, he was briefly dazed and clueless. _What the hell is happening? _His memory gradually came back to him. He visualized his struggle against Quaritch's machine, and the colonel's sudden death from a throwing knife. He remembered Quaritch smirking at a Na'vi before stabbing her.

_Neytiri!_

His "dream" suddenly became painfully and horrifically real. Grabbing a nearby exopack, Jake climbed on his wheelchair and quickly opened the airtight hatch. The height of the module made for an imposing obstacle for a wheelchair, but he pushed right into the earth. The fall caused him to land face-first in the grass, but he used his powerful arms to put himself back in his wheelchair. He saw a blue female figure lying in the grass. Jake frantically wheeled towards her. It was difficult for a wheelchair to navigate through the rough jungle terrain, but he kept pushing. Neytiri was the only thing in his mind, and he is doing whatever he can to get to her.

It took a few minutes, but Jake reached Neytiri. The large blue Amazon dwarfed his small and fragile human body. Her lithe and graceful body became a gory mess, a large ugly gash running down her upper belly. Her intestines were strewn around the gash. Looking for anything that might save her, he was about to unfasten her purple legging cloth and bandage the wound, but it soon struck him as ridiculous. _No hope..._

Tears were running down his cheeks; Jake placed his hands on her body and prayed for her soul. To his surprise, she turned her head towards him. He was afraid to speak; afraid that she wouldn't recognize his pathetic Sky Person form.

"Ma Jake…I See you," Neytiri's voice was raspy and weak, but her large golden eyes were full of meaning and pushed the words into Jake's heart. "I'm sorry Jake."

Jake couldn't contain his emotions. "Neytiri, we came so far…the humans…Sky People…are defeated. I was nothing before I knew you. You can't go now!"

Neytiri was calm; her expression didn't reflect the terrible pain that she was in. "Death is natural part of Eywa's will."

"Neytiri…please, Neytiri. I See you. I love you." Jake yanked off his exo-pack, allowing the toxic Pandoran air to invade his lungs. Trembling, he bent down to kiss her, a final kiss before she leaves him forever.

"Jake," Neytiri raised her hand and lifted up his face. With her other hand, she carefully placed the exo-pack back on his face. The blood on her hands stained his skin and mask. "I always loved you. You are in my heart."

Jake's mind was whacked with guilt. He didn't feel worthy of Neytiri's love and care. There he was; a lowly human being. He belonged to a species that abandoned conscience and wanted to kill to rake in petty profit. Worse, he was in disguise all this time. His reckless personality caused her to love him despite her knowing that he is a human dreamwalker, but his impulsiveness and lack of foresight led to the destruction of Hometree and the death of her father and so many of her Omaticaya brothers and sisters. He stole her from her betrothed, and defied her culture by falling in love and mating with her. And he failed to protect her from a painful death. The beautiful girl lying before him deserved much more. He felt weak and incompetent. All this was his fault. It was unfair.

She grabbed his hand and placed it on her chest, directly on the white handprint that Jake gave her before the fateful battle. Jake could feel her heartbeat, the pulse slowly fading. Tears flowed from her eyes as she tapped the side of his head. "Jake, I See you. I love you for who you are...inside. You have to live. I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

Neytiri looked at Jake, her golden eyes full of sincerity. Ignoring her agony, she smiled her beautiful smile for the last time before slowly closing her eyes.

Jake felt his heart torn apart. The remarkable warrior princess who meant everything for him, who completed his soul, who taught and protected him, lies dead before his eyes. _It was my fault. I was too weak to protect the woman I loved. _Jake took off his exo-pack and kissed her in the forehead, and was ready to let the Pandoran atmosphere conquer him. He was willing to join her and go to Eywa.

Again, her voice rang inside his head. "You have to live, Jake. I'll always be with you."

The words sent chills down his bones. Jake looked at Neytiri's beautiful face, now lifeless. "I will, Neytiri, I will do as you wish." He donned on his exo-pack and sighed. Despite the sunlight, the world around him seemed dull and monotonous. It was as if Pandora's rapture died with his beloved mate.

Suddenly, he felt the presence of something in the air. A single sacred _atokirina'_ drifted down and landed on Neytiri's chest; right on his handprint. Gradually, more seeds of the sacred tree went for her body until she was covered by them, head to toe. Her body shone beautifully like the mother goddess herself. Eywa blessed Neytiri as a sacred child. Then, like a tranquil wave, the bright seeds drifted away. One _atokirina'_ remained. It rested on her chest, bouncing up and down on Jake's handprint peacefully, perpetually.

Jake leaned himself back and laid his head against Neytiri's chest, next to the seed. He waited for extraction by the Na'vi. Her voice spoke to him again. "You must live on, Jake. I believe in you. I'll always be with you."

He placed his hand above his own heart. He whispered, "I know, my love. I can feel it…"

* * *

**Glossary:**

FLIR: forward looking infra-red sensor

Palalukan: a thanator, one of the most fearsome predators on Pandora

Eywa: considered a deity by the Na'vi, it is a conscious electromagnetic network on Pandora that directly controls all non-sentient life

Olo'eyktan: a clan leader

Nantang: viperwolf, a Pandoran canine and smaller relative of the thanator

'Angtsìk: a hammerhead titanothere, a large herbivore

Toruk: "last shadow", known as the Great Leonopteryx by humans, the largest aerial predator on Pandora

Atokirina': seeds of the sacred Tree of Souls and other trees of that species, considered the spirits of Eywa, it is a symbol of purity and altruism


End file.
